No way Eddie can share the floor with Nate. Right?

Weird story: I was in an airport yesterday in Hartford CT when I saw someone wearing a Luol Deng jersey walk past. That wouldn’t have been weird except it was, ya know, a Luol Deng jersey in CT. I would not have been more surprised if I’d seen Tupac — the real Tupac — alive and sitting next to me at my gate.

Anyway, it was around that time when I got the news that the Celtics were in discussions with Eddie House.

In the process of surrounding their core with a solid second unit, the Celtics have had discussions about bringing Eddie House back to Boston.

House, whose shooting streaks helped the Celtics win the title in 2008, was shipped to New York at the trade deadline last February for guard Nate Robinson.

“It’s something [Celtics president] Danny [Ainge] and I have discussed,’’ House’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, said. “But nothing’s imminent.’’

Call me crazy, but I just don’t see how Nate and Eddie co-exist on the same bench.

P.S. – Why is every single free agent the Celtics talk to represented by Mark Bartelstein?

D-Rose, Lebron and Dwyane Wade, all together? It's not out of the realm of possibility.

The Chicago Bulls have agreed to trade away Kirk Hinrich and the 17th pick in tonight’s draft, according to ESPN.

The Chicago Bulls have a deal in place that would move Kirk Hinrich and the 17th pick to the Washington Wizards, freeing up enough cap space to pursue two maximum-salary players on this summer’s free-agent market, sources with knowledge of the Bulls’ plans said Thursday.

It wasn’t immediately clear what Washington would send to Chicago in the trade.

The deal can’t be officially consummated until July 8, when the Wizards will have room under the salary cap to absorb Hinrich’s $9 million contract without having to send back anything of similar value.

Since it’s a good-faith deal for the time being, there remains a chance it could fall apart. But according to one source, the Sacramento Kings are prepared to make a similar deal with the Bulls in the Wizards’ stead if that were to happen.

Count me as officially afraid of the Bulls for next season. Take Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Free Agent X, Free Agent Y and whatever the Bulls get from Washington, sprinkle Tom Thibodeau’s defense on top of it and you’ve got yourselves a title contender. It’s that easy.

There are also rumors of Chicago sending Deng to Orlando for Pietrus and Gortat, which doesn’t seem to make sense for Chicago unless they’re pretty sure they can sign a certain free agent small forward. And, for what it’s worth, Jalen Rose reported via Twitter that Lebron ain’t going back to Cleveland. Just keep in mind, 24 watchers, I’d rather trust David Palmer’s wife Sherry than Jalen Rose’s word about a rumor.

UPDATE: This deal doesn’t quite clear space for two free agents. But the Bulls aren’t done dealing, according to John Hollinger. Look for them to have cap space for two max guys when all is said and done.

There is no more deserving head coach.

The Tom Thibodeau courting process is finally over, and Thibs has taken a position as head coach of the Chicago Bulls.

Looking around the NBA, I find it hard to believe there’s a better opening for a head coach than the Bulls job. Sure, Thibodeau might be subjected to a brawl or two with John Paxson, but he will also be coaching rising stars Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Free Agent X. (Two notes about my previous sentence: 1) The Bulls have plenty of cap space and are attractive because Rose is such a stud. They WILL sign a max player. 2) Is it okay that I just called Joakim Noah a rising star? Even if it’s okay, it sounds weird.)

With Rose, Noah, Free Agent X, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich and Thibodeau’s defensive magic, the Bulls should have a hell of a team next season. Another note on the Bulls’ suddenly very bright future: Some people wondered why Chicago didn’t resign Ben Gordon after he had such a wonderful playoff series against the Celtics. Now, with the Bulls well under the cap space and Joe Dumars repeatedly slamming his head against a urinal for signing Gordon to a $50 million contract, I think we know why.

Back to Thibodeau, he’ll finally get his chance to run a team. That chance is long overdue.

Joakim Noah had more to scream about than House in tonights96-83 L.

Boston scored the first hoop of the game, but played from behind the rest of the game on their way to a 96-83 loss. Tonight’s Boston Celtics were a  tired, lethargic team and were thoroughly outplayed by the visiting Chicago Bulls.

Following a familiar script, the Celtics were outrebounded 50-39, gave up 15 offensive rebounds, and committed 18 turnovers. Loul Deng led a determined Bulls team with 25 points while Joakim Noah grabbed 11 rebounds, and Derrick Rose added 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Chicago, 8-3 over their last 11 games, and Boston, 4-6 over their last 10 games, are two teams moving in opposite directions. Chicago is hot and recovering from injuries, while Boston is just trying to tread water while Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace, and Marquis Daniels remain injured.

Perkins alone among the Celtics starters brought his ‘A’ game, finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 5 swats. Starting guards Rondo, Allen, and Pierce shot a combined 16-42. Boston kept it close all game long, but they couldn’t hit enough shots to get over the hump and were outworked by the hungry Bulls.

It's weird, but I actually agree with Kobe on this one.

Advanced statistics can be great when used in regards to basketball. They can be used as a tool to determine who’s a better player, what’s a better lineup, and which is a better team.

But they can only be used as a tool.

When used by themselves, advanced statistics can look pretty damn, well, un-advanced. 

Yesterday, TrueHoop published an interview with Wayne Winston, a professor at Indiana and nine-year stat-head for Mark Cuban.  In it, he was asked who he thinks should be the MVP, which is when the interview gets really murky, if you ask me:

8. Who is the MVP?
Surely Dirk. He leads the whole league in two of my categories, plus/minus points and impact (plus-26 points, plus-73% impact).

So Winston thinks Dirk deserves the MVP?  Okay, that’s highly ridiculous, but not entirely out of the realm of possibility; after all, Dirk is averaging 25 points and 8 boards and leading a team that many feel is overachieving.  (On another note, isn’t it a little odd that Winston worked for the Mavericks all that time, and his stats just happen to favor a Mav?  Also, since he worked for the Mavs for nine seasons, I wonder if his stats were the reason Mark Cuban signed Erick Dampier rather than re-signing Steve Nash.  If they were, good choice.)

But wait, before you think Dirk as MVP was the highlight of my post, hold on; there’s far more absurdity from his MVP choices. Make sure you’re on the floor when you read this; if you’re on a chair, you might just faint and fall off it…

Luol Deng, Ray Allen and LeBron James have also been great. People forget Kobe Bryant has great teammates, so I do not think he is up there.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.  Hold on a second.  Luol Deng as an MVP candidate?  Ray Allen as an MVP candidate?  Kobe Bryant not as an MVP candidate? Whatever Wayne and his stats are smoking, it is some pretty potent stuff. 

Let’s start with Deng: Luol Deng? Luol Deng? MVP?  Okay, he’s a pretty decent player.  But he’s nothing more than average, and pretty much the only difference between the Chicago Bulls that are 14-19 this season and the Chicago Bulls that took Boston to seven games in last season’s playoffs is that Deng substituted for Ben Gordon.  When your team is far better off with Ben Gordon than it is with you… you are not an MVP candidate.  Not under any circumstances.

Moving on to Ray Allen, I’m as big a Ray fan as there is.  I love the way he plays, and I admire that — even as mostly a jump shooter — he finds ways to help the C’s when his shots aren’t falling.  But an MVP candidate?  If I had to pick an MVP for just the Celtics, Ray would probably be third on my list… and that’s only because Kevin Garnett has been hurt recently.  If Garnett were healthy, Ray would be my fourth choice.

But enough with the players he did choose.  (Lebron was the other candidate, and he deserves to be on the list.  Whether it’s based on stats or otherwise, King James is an MVP candidate.)  Now, let’s move on to the player he said didn’t deserve to be in the running for MVP… to not have Kobe Bryant on the list is ludicrous.  I hate Kobe, but I don’t care if his teammates are the Dream Team or a girls jayvee team, the way Kobe’s playing this season merits serious consideration for MVP.  If the season ended today, in fact, he’d be my choice to win the award. 

But advanced stats somehow show Kobe to be worse than Luol Deng?  Give me a break.

How’s this, Wayne Winston?  Maybe watch a game or two. 

Then tell me Luol Deng deserves to be in the race for MVP.